RICHLAND, Wash. - EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) and contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) recently installed sludge removal equipment in the 105K West Fuel Storage Basin and adjacent sludge transfer annex.
The basin currently stores approximately 35 cubic yards of radioactive sludge under 17 feet of water, 400 yards away from the Columbia River.
“The workers have done a great job getting us to this point. Their continued progress will help us deliver the project ahead of schedule," said Mark French, RL project director for Hanford’s sludge removal project.
A CH2M official commended the company’s employees for helping resolve project issues.
“Our workers helped solve many of the challenges associated with this one-of-a-kind task," said Eric Erpenbeck, a CH2M senior technical advisor for the sludge treatment project.
RL and CH2M have planned this project for several years. Over the last three years, engineers developed and procured more than 270 sludge removal tools and equipment.
In January, workers finished shipping sludge retrieval equipment from a full-scale mockup facility where it was tested to Hanford’s 100-K Area. With installation complete, workers are set to test the equipment in the basin and annex.
They are preparing for a challenging project phase expected to begin in early April and designed to measure the equipment’s readiness, while operators mitigate concerns.
On Hanford’s central plateau, workers are modifying a facility, T Plant, to receive and store containers of sludge until they are processed and packaged for disposal.
The sludge removal project is key to the RL 2020 cleanup vision, which focuses on completing cleanup projects along the river corridor to eliminate risk to the Columbia River; transitioning cleanup activities to the site’s central portion, where much cleanup remains; and increasing focus on key infrastructure projects that require upgrades and maintenance.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
